SWISS AIR FLIGHT 111

 FIRE ON BOARD

1998 of Canada East Coast, a modern passenger jet run by one of the world's best airlines catches fire at 33,000 feet. In the final 6 minutes communications from the cockpit ceases. Then applying plummets into the ocean. 229 people are dead what caused the fire is a mystery.  Now after one of the largest investigations in aviation history, the complete story behind the loss of Swiss air flight 111 can finally be told. It's a wakeup call for the entire airline industry to ensure that what happened aboard Swiss air would never happen again.

Failure saves lives. In the airline industry, every time a plane crashes the probability of the next crash is lowered by that.

                                                                                                                            -George Carlin

MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!

September 2, 1998 Swiss air flight 111 prepares to depart from  New York  JFK International Airport on route to Geneva, Switzerland. The aircraft is McDonald Douglas 11 or MD 11 a model first developed in 1986 as a highly automated, modern improvement on the antiquated DC 10.

It is considered one of the most reliable large passenger jets in the skies and Swiss air pilots are among the world 's best trained. Swiss air 111 pilots a captain Urs Zimmermann and first officer Stefan Löw. At the time of crash the captain had around 10,800 flying time under his belt, with approximately 900 hours in the MD-11.

The first officer also being experienced had 4,800 flying time under his belt and around 250 hours in the MD-11.

The flight crew were the veterans of the SWISS AIRFORCE. Zimmerman encourages an easygoing atmosphere in the cockpit but he is also known for his by the book precision when not flying he trains new pilots for Switzerland national airline. On board are 215 passengers 12 crew and the 2 pilots. Most passengers are French American or Swiss. 

As a standard operating procedure of the Swiss Air pilots pushed the throttles forward together, ensuring that no single pilot can bacha take off, this was done to ensure safety. Swiss air flight 111 lifts off the runway and makes her way northeast toward the Open Atlantic. For the first 15 minutes after takeoff. There is no communication from Swiss air 111. It is an unusual small detail that would later baffle investigators.

Atlantic air traffic is handled by a remote center in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Almost half an hour after takeoff captain Zimmerman makes his first communication with Moncton. The captain reported their altitude 33,000ft. The ATC acknowledged SwissAir111 to be on his radar. The ATC then cautioned the crew about facing some turbulence due to bad weather at all flight levels, so it was made clear that SwissAir111 would not climb or descend to avoid turbulence. It is a perfectly normal beginning to a transatlantic crossing.  In first class Swiss air passengers are among the first in the world to have a personalized in Flight Entertainment Network, though now common. The system is an innovation in 1998. Passengers can choose the own movie browse the Internet and gamble. 

This luxury would be the source of controversy to come. 

At this time the first officer smelt something and asked the captain if he also smelt the same. As per the protocol the captain took control over the aircraft and commanded the first officer to check for the cause of the smell. First officer Löw investigates the area near the air conditioner vent since harmless smoke traces from air conditioning systems are common on commercial jet. But he didn't find the cause of the smell. The smell was like the smell of smoke. And smoke in the jet meant fire on some part. The pilots confirmed with the cabin crew if they could smell smoke in the jet, but the smoke smell was just in the cockpit. So, the came to the conclusion that their Air Conditioner was at fault. But what the Crew could not see behind the sealed panels was getting bigger and bigger with every passing minute. 

Until now the Pilots could only smell the smoke, they closed the air conditioning ducts so the smoke disappeared. But less than 45 seconds before the smoke was gone it returned, and this time in more quantity. The Pilots could now see smoke in the cockpit. Zimmerman Falls, Swiss air procedure. He makes plans to divert the plane for the nearest place to land. Zimmerman radios air traffic control in Moncton, New Brunswick. He declares emergency  pan pan pan. Pan pan Pan is an international term used to notify air traffic control of an urgent situation. One step below declaring Mayday. He requests return to any of the nearest airfield to land the problematic aircraft preferably Boston. There were two ATCs in the control tower when the distress call was made from the SwissAir111, they recall that at the time when distress call was made the aircraft was about 66 nautical miles from Halifax airport and 300 nautical miles from Boston. But Zimmerman chose the airport he knew better. But when ATC told him that Halifax was closer to them they changed their plan and diverted to Halifax. The controller signs off with another aircraft. His jurisdiction is high altitude flights as Swiss air is on dissent to Halifax. He hands over responsibility to terminal controller. Zimmerman has two checklists for smoke in the cockpit to complete. Both will take 20 minutes. This is Swiss air company policy. In the meantime, Löw continues the descent into Halifax. For some reasons SwissAir111 was not descending as per requirement to make a safe landing. Captain Zimmerman needs information for the unfamiliar airfield, but his flight bag is out of reach. He summons the flight attendant to help. 

In the meantime the chief flight attendant notifies passengers that the flight is being diverted. There was no panic. The plane is flying normally and there is no sign of smoke in the cabin. So far, communications from Swiss air have been calm. Still, Moncton Center initiates emergency efforts at Halifax Airport. At this time the ATC asks the crew for the number of souls on board and amount of fuel left. The crew reported that they had 230tons of fuel remaining and they need to dump fuel. The ATC was taken aback to know this information so late. They were to be heading to the airport but now for dumping fuel they have to turn to flight heading 200 and be at 10 thousand feet. The ATC would notify the crew when they were on the ocean and can dump fuel. Then suddenly the lights in the cabin went off, but the crew requested the passengers to stay calm. Now the fire behind the sealed panels had reached the Autopilot computer. The other systems also started to fail one by one. In this situation the pilots wanted to aboard fuel dumping and just land but they were far from the airport and now the transmittion was also being distorted. The crew now declared a MAYDAY! and this was the last transmittion ever heard from SwissAir111.

SwissAir111 plumits out of the sky into the ocean. The following morning would be rescuers glimpse the terrible remains of Swiss air 111. Only one human body is discovered intact. All the 229 people on board had perished.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada launches what will become the largest air disaster investigation in the nation's history.  

To know the reasons for this disaster stay tuned and follow AVIATION BOY